The Rules of Candyland

Set-Up and Basic Game Play

• Players start out by setting their markers at the beginning of the rainbow path on the game board. An adult shuffles the game cards and places the deck face down. In the official rules, the youngest player always starts, with play proceeding to the left. Players can also flip a coin to determine the first player if the same person ends up starting every time.

  Each player draws a card on her turn. Most of the cards show one or two colored squares; the player then moves her marker to the first or second square on the path matching that color. Once drawn, the card is set aside out of play.

Picture Cards

• Some cards contain pictures of figures on them. When a player draws one of those cards, he moves his marker to the pink square matching that picture. For instance, if the player draws the Candy Cane card, he moves to the square containing the pink picture of the candy cane. This doesn't necessarily help the player, as it may mean he moves backward along the path instead of forward.

Obstacles and Short Cuts

• The "Candyland" board has two shortcuts--Rainbow Trail and Gumdrop Pass--that let players bypass certain parts of the board. If the player lands on the exact space where those shortcuts begin, she may immediately move up the path to the spot where the shortcuts end. In addition, there are three Licorice Spaces on the board. If a player lands in one of those spaces, she must forfeit her next turn.

Variants and Winning Conditions

• The game ends when the first player reaches the Candy Castle at the end of the path. "Candyland"'s manufacturers have suggested several optional rules for very young or older players. For games with young players, the picture cards cannot more you backward, only forward. For games with older players, have each player draw two cards on his turn instead of one, then decide which one he wants to use. That adds a bit of tactics to the mix while teaching the children about decision making.